It’s been just over a week since the results of the election, which makes it ten days after Barney Artist’s ‘FCK BORIS’ shirt received almost the same raucous applause as his tracks…

I might as well have pitched a tent up at Hyde Park Book Club, given how often I visited in November/December. Barney Artist’s phenomenal set there marked my final gig of 2019 and, boy, it was a bloody good one. I’d read beforehand that his shows provided music and comedy almost in equal measure, and that was true of what I saw. From his old-school dancing to self-deprecating humour, it was a laugh a minute, but his ability to take the mic and project such truthful melodies is something else. Despite traversing the topics of surprise birthday parties, anxiety, therapy and touring, the music wasn’t an afterthought. He went through the huge Tom Misch collabs, ‘Lullaby’ and ‘Good to be Home’, plus the incredible ‘Space’, ‘Leave It All’ and ‘I’m Going to Tell You’. And just when I thought it was all over and he hadn’t bothered playing my favourite, he finished with ‘Calm Down’. What a beat.

It was well worth the freezing walk to Hyde Park. Barney Artist is a legend in the making, so get yourself to see him when you can.